Brain biological specimen post mortem inspection and preserving vessel

ABSTRACT

A brain biological specimen post mortem inspection and preserving vessel, a transparent container shaped to cradle the brain and provided with an open top forming an examination opening, for example, for dissection, a lid sealing the open top, and clasps for clamping the lid to the container. The brain is preferably mounted on sleeves on pins on a removable insert in the container, and the lid and container preferably each provided with a capped preserving fluid inlet and drain respectively.

United States Patent [191 Romero-Sierra et al.

[4 1 Feb. 19, 1974 BRAIN BIOLOGICAL SPECIMEN POST MORTEM INSPECTION ANDPRESERVING VESSEL [75] Inventors: Cesar Aurelio Romero-Sierra, Bath,

Ontario; Lionel Caron, I-lull, Quebec; Gerard Beaudry, Gatineau, Quebec,all of Canada [73] Assignee: Canadian Patents and Development Limited,Ottawa Province of Ontario, Canada 22 Filed: May 18, 1972 21 Appl. No.:254,359

[52] U.S. Cl 269/328, 35/17, 35/20, 269/54.4 [51] Int. Cl. 60% 23/28,B25b 11/00 [58] Field of Search... 269/328, 54.4, 289, 53, 54.5; 35/17,20

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 774,420 ll/l904 Greenman eta1. 35/20 190,688 5/1877 Mathewson 269/54.5 X

681,400 8/1901 McCarty 35/20 786,546 4/1905 Chamberlin 269/54.4

2,880,856 4/1959 Albrecht 206/1 2,924,330 2/1960 Ballard 269/54.5 X3,433,105 3/1969 Barickman 269/545 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS652,028 1948 Great Britain 269/54.5

Primary ExaminerHarold D. Whitehead Assistant Examiner-J. T. ZatargaAttorney, Agent, or FirmFrancis W. Lemon [5 7] ABSTRACT A brainbiological specimen post mortem inspection and preserving vessel, atransparent container shaped to cradle the brain and provided with anopen top forming an examination opening, for example, for dissection, alid sealing the open top, and clasps for clamping the lid to thecontainer. The brain is preferably mounted on sleeves on pins on aremovable insert in the container, and the lid and container preferablyeach provided with a capped preserving fluid inlet and drainrespectively.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG.I.

BRAIN BIOLOGICAL SPECIMEN POST MORTEM INSPECTION AND PRESERVING VESSELThis invention relates to a brain biological specimen post morteminspection and preserving vessel.

An urgent requirement exists for a better storage vessels for a brainbiological specimen than the plastic bucket that is presently used in,for example, Departments of Anatomy, Pathology and Forensic Medicine forpostmortem inspection and preservation. The brain specimen may be awhole or a part of a human or animal brain biological specimen.

The underlying reasons for such a requirement are:

a. there is a tendency for fumes of preserving liquid to leak from thestandard commercially available bucket causing inconvenience to adissector,

b. The opacity of the material used in standard commercially availablebuckets renders it difficult for a dissector to see the portion of thebrain being dissected,

c. portions of the brain tend to lose their correct anatomical positionas the dissection proceeds, and

d. due to the flexibility of the standard commercially available bucketand its shape there is tendency for preserving liquid to spill from itwhen the bucket is being transported.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a brain biologicalspecimen post mortem inspection and preserving vessel from which thetendency for preserving liquid to inconvenience a dissector is reduced,the vessel is transparent facilitating observation of the specimen bythe dissector, and anatomical positions of portion of the brain tend tobe maintained during dissection, and there is little likelihood ofpreserving liquid being spilt from the vessel when the vessel is beingtransported.

According to the present invention there is provided a brain biologicalspecimen post mortem inspection and preserving vessel, comprising atransparent container having an open top forming a brain examinationaccess opening, and a cavity shaped for holding a brain specimen insubstantially the same position as the cranium, a lid sealing the opentop of the container, and means for locking the lid to the container inthe closed position.

Brain biological specimen post mortem inspection and preserving vesselsaccording to the present invention may be used to contain whole or partsof a human or an animal brain. Thus in this specification brainspecimen" means a whole or a part of a human or an animal brain.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example. anembodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a brain biological specimenpostmortem inspection and preserving vessel without a removal inserttherefor in position,

FIG. 2, is a plan view of the vessel shown in FIG. 1 with a lid portionremoved,

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of a removable insert of the vesselshown in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG. 3.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a brain biological specimen post morteminspection and preserving vessel, comprising a transparent container 1of acrylic resin, having an open top 2 forming a brain examinatop 2 ofthe container 1, and means 8 and 10 for locking the lid 6 to thecontainer 1 in the closed position.

In this embodiment the container 1 and lid 6 are headshaped and hold thebrain in its natural upright position but it is within the scope of theinvention for the container 1 and lid 6 to cradle the brain in otherpositions, for example, the brain may be cradle lying on one side orinverted from its natural upright position. Also in this embodiment thelid 6 is shaped for the reception of an upper portion of the brain, aremovable insert designated 12 in FIGS. 3 and 4 is for placement withinthe container 1 and has substantially the upper surface contour as thecranium base to cradle a brain in the same manner, and means in the formof upstanding pins 14 to 16 are provided for retaining a brain on theremovable insert 12 during examination. The pins 14 and 15, which areidentical, are larger than the pins 16 and 17 which are identical.Sleeves 18 to 21 are provided on pins 14 to 17 respectively.

The container 1 has a platform 22 shaped to the contour of the undersideof the removable insert 12, and a brain preserving liquid draining means24 is provided on the container 1. The liquid draining means 24comprises a pipe 26 leading from the platform 22 and terminating outsidethe container 1 with a sealing cap 28 screwed on to the end thereof. Thecontainer 1 has a base portion 30 for standing the container 1 in aupright position.

A gasket 32 of silicone rubber is attached to the upper edge 33 of thecasing 1, and two locating pins 34 and 36 are mounted to protrude fromthe upper edge 33. The rear of the casing 1 has a clasp 38 mounted onit, and the front of the casing 1 has a hook 40 mounted on it.

The lid 6 has a brain preserving liquid entry 42, and a cap 44 isscrewed onto the entry 42 to seal it. A flange 46 on the lid 6 has twoholes 48 and 50 for the reception of the locating pins 34 and 36respectively, and also rests upon the gasket 32. A clasp 52 is mountedon the front of the lid 6 for engagement with the hook 40, and a hook 54is mounted on the rear of the lid 6 for engagement with the clasp 38.The clasp 38 and hook 54 form the means 8, and the clasp 52 and hook 40form the means 10.

The removable insert 12, FIGS. 3 and 4 has a brain preserving liquidoutlet 56.

In operation a brain specimen is placed on the removable insert 12 withthe sleeves 18 to 21 on the pins 14 to 17 respectively and spiked intothe brain specimen. The removable insert 12 with the brain specimen onit is placed in the container 1 on the platform 22. The lid 6 is placedon the container 1 and secured in position by actuating the clasps 38and 52 to engage the hooks 40 and 54 respectively. The cap 44 is removedand the space around the brain specimen in the container 1 and lid 6 arefilled with a preserving liquid. The cap 44 is then replaced and thebrain specimen may thus be stored in a preserved condition whilst beingvisible for inspection.

Should it be desired to dissect the brain specimen then the caps 28 and44 are removed to drain preserving liquid from the container 1 and thelid 6. The lid 6 is then removed, by actuating the clasps 38 and 52, to

expose for dissection an upper portion of the brain specimen which isproud of the container 1. After dissection, or during intervals in thedissection, the lid 6 may be replaced once more and the container 1 andlid 6 filled with preserving liquid.

The apparatus according to the present invention is useful for studentsof, for example, anatomy, pathology or forensic medicine because after adissection by the student the lid 6 may be replaced on the container 1,and the container 1 and lid 6 filled with preserving fluid so that alecturer may inspect the students dissection at leisure without removingthe lid 6.

The provision of the sleeves 18 to 21 allows a brain specimen to beremoved from the platform 22 with the sleeves 18 to 21 remaining in thebrain specimen, so that when the brain specimen is replaced on theplatform 22 the sleeves 18 to 21 located around the pins 14 to 17 onceagain and prevent further damage to the brain specimen by being impaledon the pins at other positions than the original damage.

An advantage with the apparatus according to the invention is that arelatively small quantity of preserving liquid is required when comparedto the conventional plastic buckets used for the-same purpose. This isan important consideration when one considers the costs of somepreserving liquids.

A further advantage with the apparatus according to the presentinvention, when it is used by students, is the topographical correlationmaintained between the head shaped container and the brain specimen.

It has also been found that using the apparatus according to the presentinvention a dissector is not subjected to anywhere near the amount ofnoxious fumes from the preserving liquid than is experienced using theconventional plastic bucket.

in other embodiments of the invention the container 1 and lid shaped areshaped as the head of an animal such as, for example, a monkey and havethe interior shaped to receive a brain specimen of that animal.

In further embodiments of the invention a brain specimen is placeddirectly into the container 1 without the use of an insert, and theinterior of the container 1 is shaped to cradle the brain specimen inthe same manner as the cranium.

It will be appreciated when transporting the container 1 containing abrainspecimen and preserving fluid and sealed by the lid 6, there islittle likelihood of preserving fluid being spilled.

We claim:

1. A brain biological specimen post mortem inspection and preservingvessel, comprising a transparent, head-shaped container having an opentop forming a brain examination access opening and a cavity for holdingthe brain specimen in its natural upright position in the cranium, aremoval insert within the container and having substantially the sameupper surface contour as the cranium base to cradle the brain in thesame manner as the cranium base, a plurality of upstanding pins on theremovable insert for retaining the brain specimen thereon, a sleeve oneach pin and over each of which the brain specimen is to be impaled, alid shaped for the reception of an upper portion of the brain specimen,and means for locking the lid to the container in the closed position.

2. A vessel according to claim 1, wherein a brain preserving liquidentry is on the lid, a cap seals the brain preserving liquid entry, andbrain preserving liquid draining means are provided on the container.

1. A brain biological specimen post mortem inspection and preservingvessel, comprising a transparent, head-shaped container having an opentop forming a brain examination access opening and a cavity for holdingthe brain specimen in its natural upright position in the cranium, aremoval insert within the container and having substantially the sameupper surface contour as the cranium base to cradle the brain in thesame manner as the cranium base, a plurality of upstanding pins on theremovable insert for retaining the brain specimen thereon, a sleeve oneach pin and over each of which the brain specimen is to be impaled, alid shaped for the reception of an upper portion of the brain specimen,and means for locking the lid to the container in the closed position.2. A vessel according to claim 1, wherein a brain preserving liquidentry is on the lid, a cap seals the brain preserving liquid entry, andbrain preserving liquid draining means are provided on the container.